The invention relates to an inflator, especially for a vehicle safety system, comprising a combustion chamber containing a pyrotechnical solid propellant bed. Apart from that, the invention relates to an airbag module. Moreover, the invention relates to a vehicle safety system. The invention additionally relates to a method of manufacturing an inflator.
In numerous especially tubular inflators plural chambers are formed, i.e. an igniter chamber and a combustion chamber. In an igniter chamber usually an igniting mixture, also referred to as booster charge, is provided. On the other hand, in a fuel chamber a pyrotechnical solid propellant bed is provided.
From U.S. 2014/0230685 A1 a tubular inflator including an igniter chamber and a combustion chamber is known. Said two chambers are separated from each other by two plate-shaped elements. The plate-shaped elements are connected to the tubular casing of the inflator. A first plate-shaped element is pressed onto the propellant bed provided in the combustion chamber. During this manufacturing step propellant may break. Moreover, it is possible that cavities are retained in the propellant bed. The second plate-shaped element is pre-positioned in the tubular casing and, during mounting the igniter holder, is pushed toward the solid propellant bed together with the igniting mixture. After mounting the two plate-shaped elements, settlements within the propellant and/or within the igniting mixture cannot be compensated any longer.